Homily for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C
Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. La Salette Missionaries of North America Hartford, Connecticut ( Click here for Sunday’s readings ) In reflecting on today’s gospel, I spent way too much time reading about Torti v. Van Horn. This was a California court case, in which a “Good Samaritan” was sued for injuries she allegedly caused when pulling a friend from a car after an accident. The friend later wanted to sue her, a lower court said no, but the California Supreme Court said the suit could be allowed. The decision began with these words: “Under well-established common law principles, a person has no duty to come to the aid of another.” In the light of that principle, the priest and the Levite in today’s parable did nothing wrong. In the light of Torti v. Van Horn, they actually did the sensible thing. In any case, now I know why the scholar of the law asked the questions he did. It’s what lawyers did in those days. It’s what lawyers still do today. They test each other. I